


Come in with the Rain

by lethallen



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 14:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15642447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethallen/pseuds/lethallen
Summary: After the two have a fight, Natalia is too stubborn to seek Cullen out to help her calm down during a thunderstorm. Thankfully, Cullen knows her all too well.





	Come in with the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from an old school Taylor Swift song by the same name. Also, this was not beta'd, so if there are any typos, I apologize!

The fight was stupid. After having the training grounds to herself for a couple of hours, where she could beat a training dummy to hell with her axe, Natalia could see that the fight was stupid. She and Cullen had both been lashing out from fear and frustration, not entirely related to one another. Frankly, with all the time they spent around each other, Natalia was shocked that it hadn’t happened sooner.

The fight had started because of something Leliana had said in the war room. “I hear someone’s becoming quite the dragon hunter.” An innocent comment, followed by a giggle. Natalia had shot her a grin and a shrug, but her playfulness faded a bit when she saw the hard look on Cullen’s face.

She’d confronted him in his office after the meeting, and it had… devolved from there. He accused her of putting herself in extreme danger just for bragging rights (“You throw yourself into the path of something that could _very_ easily kill you, and for what? A head to mount, something that will impress those insufferable noble guests?”), she accused him of being controlling and underestimating her abilities (“If this was you, there wouldn’t even be a debate! You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do; I know what I’m capable of, even if you don’t.”). It was silly, and very obviously about something unrelated to her dragon-slaying pastimes - likely their upcoming final battle with Corypheus. Natalia regretted every word that came out of her mouth.

But instead of being an adult about it, she decided to take some time to wallow. She didn’t spend much time in her room, considering if she was going to go over reports, she did it in Cullen’s office. Still, it was as good a place as any.

The candles on her desk were burning down to nothing, and she was just about to call it a night when a sudden crack of thunder rattled through Skyhold. Freezing, Natalia glanced out the window to see that, yes, a flash of lightning was quick to follow.

Thunderstorms had always made her nervous. It was a phobia, something she knew was not completely logical, but she hadn't been able to shake it since she was a child. Since everything had happened -- everything, from being in the Fade the first time to being in the Fade the second time to all the horrible fights in between -- her fear had only gotten worse. Thankfully, there weren't many thunderstorms in the mountains, and when there were, Cullen was often by her side.

He knew, of course, about her fear. They shared things like that, deep-seated fears and the reasons for them, stumbled into the deep and dirty parts of themselves without ever really knowing how the conversation started. As such, if they weren't together when a storm began, he'd put down his work and find her. The first night they'd spent together (just _sleeping_ , she'd had to convince Leliana of that when she saw Cullen stumble out of Natalia's quarters at an ungodly hour of the morning) was the result of a thunderstorm. It had gone late into the night, so Cullen had decided to stay in her room, insisting it was because of the hole in his ceiling, how he'd be up all night, and could he please stay there if it wasn't too much trouble. Natalia saw through that in an instant, but she was grateful to have someone to hold her through the night.

She'd slept like the dead.

That night, it seemed, she was not going to have the same luck. Too exhausted to work but too anxious to sleep, she stripped into her small clothes and curled up under the covers, pulling them over her head. It seemed like the right thing to do, but, all at once, she despised herself for it. This wouldn't be the first time she despised herself for her weaknesses -- it happened often, in fact -- but the burn was sharper without Cullen to dull it. Frankly, it was a little frightening how much she had grown to depend on him. He was a support, a steady presence that always managed to smooth her sharp edges (of which she had as many as a sword). But she'd have to manage without him for now.

Another crash of thunder sent her curling in more on herself, the noise reminding her of the sound of rifts opening and closing. She was sweating under the blankets but refused to get out, not wanting to leave the security they provided her. However, even in her distracted, distraught state, when she felt the blankets being pulled back from her body, her hand shot out to grab the dagger under her pillow, and she had the intruder pinned underneath her, blade to his neck.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but she quickly realized that the person laying on the floor underneath her was a very startled Cullen. As if she didn't have enough proof, then came, in that velvety voice, "Um. Ow."

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry!" She pulled the dagger back and quickly tossed it aside, climbing off of him. "Sorry, sorry, I was already on edge, I didn't mean--"

"It's fine," he assured her, pulling himself up and rubbing the back of his head where it had smacked on the ground. "I should have announced myself, I didn't think about the fact that you wouldn't hear the door over the thunder."

The mention of the storm had her deflate a bit as she glanced up at him. She didn't have to ask why he was there. They were silent for a moment, standing awkwardly in front of each other, before she said, quietly, "I didn't know if you'd come."

"I didn't know if you'd want me to," he admitted, seeming to soften and relax when her hand reached out for his. The linked their fingers together, and she took a step closer. "But I thought it was worth the risk of you tossing me out."

"I'd never," she insisted, and soon enough, their gravitational pulls had ended with them pressed close, her head on his chest, his free arm around her waist to keep her close. Another crash of thunder and she pressed more firmly into him. He responded by burying his face in her hair.

Natalia was realizing rather quickly that this is what being in love was. Pushing past the bad feelings. Being partners. Being there for each other. She held him through his nightmares, through his withdrawls, kept a cool cloth to his head as he shook with the force of the pain. He cradled her during thunderstorms, during _her_ nightmares, during the times when the demons and the blood and the death grew to be too much. They were each others' port city in the storm; others may come and go, but both of them had put down roots. With each other, they were home.

"Our fight was stupid," she muttered finally, and she felt him shake with gentle laughter.

"It was," he agreed, squeezing her comfortingly. "I hope it never does seem like I want to tell you what to do. I know that no being on Earth is capable of such a feat." She snorted, and he pressed his smile into her hair, giving her a soft kiss before pulling back to continue. "I just... worry. You're in constant danger, especially outside of Skyhold's walls, and I feel so... useless here. If something happened, there's nothing I could do."

Natalia pulled back then, reaching up to stroke his cheek. He leaned into her touch. "I understand. Believe me, I do. But I have some bad news; you fell in love with the kind of girl who is always going to go out and slay dragons. And, I hate to tell you this, but that is definitely your type. If you wanted some dainty flower to come home to, the only two women you've loved wouldn't be the Hero of Ferelden and the Inquisitor." He flushed at the mention of the young love he'd revealed to her, and it brought a smirk to her face. "Seems to me that you like women who are just as fierce as you are, so, if you plan to keep me, you better get used to it."

He chuckled and shook his head. "You are _much_ fiercer than I, my love, but I see your point. And I do intend to keep you, for as long as you'll have me."

"Forever, then."

His eyes shone in that soft, tender way they had, and, as usual, all her sharp edges, her walls, dissolved into nothing. Her expression was just as tender as his, something she never would have thought she was capable of (even if Cullen deserved to be treated with all the tenderness in the world). With a smile, he turned his head to press a kiss to her hand where it had rested on his cheek. "Forever, then."


End file.
